Integration and Emigration

A very beautiful cover from Poland 🇵🇱- it deceptively looks like a cover with very random stamps through the years ( 2003 - 2019 ) but they have a subtle theme common to them ! 

Poland in European Union - part 3 - Referendum 

Date of issue : 26-May-2003

A referendum on joining the European Union was held in Poland on 7 and 8 June 2003. The proposal was approved by 77.6% of voters. Poland subsequently joined the European Union that year following the ratification of the Treaty of Accession 2003. The country's first European Parliament elections were held in 2004.

Percentage of voters saying YES for the referendum in 2003

15th anniversary of Poland’s accession to European Union 

Date of issue : 1-May-2019

On 1 May 2004, Poland joined the European Union. Together with nine other states, it became a full-fledged member of the European community. Membership of the European Union accelerated the development of the Polish economy, thanks to which Poland is now one of the fastest developing economies of all Member States. 

Transfers from the EU budget and remittances from Poles who moved to work in other EU countries spurred its domestic demand. Since the EU accession, Poland’s GDP has doubled, while its economy ranks first in Central Europe and sixth in the EU in terms of GDP value in the purchasing power parity. 

With no need for passports , and construction of new roads , elimination of legal and trade barriers, removal of roaming fees for mobile operators - borders are disappearing. 

One of the pearls of modern architecture that was co-financed by the EU is 

the Szczecin Philharmonic House – in Katowice, 

the Gdansk Museum of World War Two and the European Centre of Solidarity. 

Modern scientific centres like the Copernicus Science Centre, Centre for Science and Technology EC1 in Lodz, 

the Academic Complex in Rzeszow, 

the Experiment Science Centre in Gdynia and many others are noteworthy.

As many as 70,563 Polish school students participated in placements and research internships and more than 180 thousand Polish college students studied abroad on scholarships under the Erasmus/Erasmus+ programme thanks to European funds.

In 2009, on Poland’s and Sweden’s initiative, the Eastern Partnership programme was created to forge closer political and economic ties between the European Union and its eastern neighbours: Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia

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Europa 2006 - integration ( migrant ) as seen by the young 

Date of issue : 5-May-2006 

Citizens of European Union countries have the right to move between EU countries. As of 2015, nearly 20 million people, or about 4% of the EU’s birth population, lived in a European country in which they were not born.

EU countries with the highest number of migrants from other EU countries include Germany (5.3 million), the United Kingdom (2.9 million) and France (2.3 million). Meanwhile, EU countries with the highest number of migrants to other EU countries include Poland (3.5 million), Romania (3 million) and Germany (1.8 million).

This imbalance in the intra EU immigration is a double edged sword - it has been the reason for many of the countries developing in the last couple of decades and is also the reason many countries believe to be a dampener for their economy !!

Poland - My homeland

Date of issue : 2- May- 2018 

Apart from the fact that all the stamps on the cover are related to European Union accession and migration , all the stamps have been issued in the month of May ! 

May 1 is celebrated as Labour day 

May 2 is celebrated as the Flag day 

May 3 is celebrated as the Constitution Day 

Thanks Wojtek for the beautiful cover ! Stamps are truly a treasure, for the amount of information they carry - both metaphorically and literally !!